Bruce Heard has sent over an exclusive preview of the latest in the Calidar series, “Dreams of Aerie”. Dreams of Aerie is the third in the World of Calidar series. You may remember the first book In Stranger Skies, still listed near the top of EN World’s Certified Chart, more than two years after its initial release. Calidar books are tabletop RPG accessories that aren’t game-specific; in other words, they can be run with most role-playing game mechanics. The new book describes the Greatest Show on Calidar, a flying circus that offers amazing fantasy spectacles to the townspeople of Calidar. It welcomes among its crew misfits, freaks, those seeking solace from a society that fears or persecutes them, as well as deceivers with shady pasts. Unknown to all but circus folk, the glorious vessel travels the world in search of ancient artifacts. A benevolent god’s cult prevails aboard, patron of beast handlers and showmanship, an epic hero who earned immortality in Calidar’s ancient past. But not all is well aboard. Heroes are hired to investigate a mysterious murder. In the course of their mission, they uncover dark things, some causing shivers to run down their spines. Not everyone or everything dwelling aboard welcomes the adventurers’ meddling. UPDATE - the Kickstarter has launched!

Dreams of Aerie is a mega adventure that also works as a mini-setting. Because its plot focuses on a flying circus, it can easily be transplanted into another world than Calidar. The traveling show is set on a vessel 300’ long and configured with three decks. Permanent buildings of the aeries ring the main deck’s outer edge, rising 2-4 floors with basements on the lower deck. Within the circle of aeries stand the carnie’s shacks and tents, with the Big Top dominating the center. Counting aeries, the sideshows, and the various decks, more than 200 distinct areas are mapped and finely detailed.

This adventure is character driven and largely open ended. For this purpose, more than 100 NPCs and key monsters, each with background and personal motivation, along with another 100 random roustabouts, provide the dynamics behind the story. NPCs are listed with specific addresses for their residences and employment aboard the circus. They are members of professional guilds (freaks, buffoons, beast handlers, acrobats, etc.) seeking fame, status, influence, and wealth. Some personalities also belong to rival secret societies, or may be relatives, or lovers. Others, behind innocent appearances, are truly monstrous and bent on evil deeds. No one knows what comes out after the moons have set, when visiting townsfolk have left and circus folk are safely back in their quarters.

There is no predicting where this adventure goes. It stands as an ultimate challenge to skilled referees. A wealth of game-mastering tools are offered to manage role-playing, including a flowchart of general events to help keep the players on track. Adventures continue from there, as pre-gens have their own “secret goals,” and each NPC can potentially lead to alternative escapades. All of these options are compiled for easy reference in the sourcebook’s appendix. They will also become available as free PDFs associated with the book, offering player handouts at the same time.

Dreams of Aerie still needs a budget for cover art and internal illustrations. For this, its Kickstarter campaign is scheduled to launch on June 14. The finished manuscript has been handed over to the editor. All maps are done, including up to six 11x16 posters as well as all section maps and individual rooms reproduced inside the printed book. The initial page count comes to 124 color pages, up to 132 depending on stretch goals. The final product should be released around Nov-Dec 2017 as POD via DriveThruRPG or the author directly (for autographed copies.) Previous books, including some exclusively available to Kickstarter backers, will be available from this crowdfunding campaign.

I backed the 2nd one and bought the 1st as part of it. I'm on board (ha!). Just tell me where and when.

Thanks Ath! You know when and where -- tomorrow after 9am central time. Search for "Calidar" or "Calidar Dreams of Aerie" on the Kickstarter home page. I'll post the actual link asap tomorrow morning, as soon as I can make it back here!

Day 1 of Calidar "Dreams of Aerie's" Kickstarter: we did very well. By the end of Day 1, we've outdone CAL1 "In Stranger Skies." All numbers were better across the board. Thank you everyone! To help continuing this success story, do feel free to pass the word around, or simply keep chatting about the project, here, on Facebook, or on Kickstarter directly.

What else can I say, but "merci!"

A good number of you did share the campaign announcement, and this helped a lot. I'm very grateful for your enthusiasm and support. Judging from the funding pattern, it looks like "Dreams" should be at least funded by the end of the event. So far, we have at least 111 visitors who watched the video; 59% of them watched it all the way through, which is pretty good actually. Out of 111 visitors, 86 are backers at this point. Compare this with "In Stranger Skies" where more than 5,000 visitors watched the video and about 400 became backers (after 30 days.) That's very encouraging, even though June is a difficult month for crowd funding.

Day 1 of Calidar "Dreams of Aerie's" Kickstarter: we did very well. By the end of Day 1, we've outdone CAL1 "In Stranger Skies." All numbers were better across the board. Thank you everyone! To help continuing this success story, do feel free to pass the word around, or simply keep chatting about the project, here, on Facebook, or on Kickstarter directly.

What else can I say, but "merci!"

A good number of you did share the campaign announcement, and this helped a lot. I'm very grateful for your enthusiasm and support. Judging from the funding pattern, it looks like "Dreams" should be at least funded by the end of the event. So far, we have at least 111 visitors who watched the video; 59% of them watched it all the way through, which is pretty good actually. Out of 111 visitors, 86 are backers at this point. Compare this with "In Stranger Skies" where more than 5,000 visitors watched the video and about 400 became backers (after 30 days.) That's very encouraging, even though June is a difficult month for crowd funding.

I'll confess I didn't watch the video (don't worry, I backed the project), but your last sentence above is interesting. Why is June a bad month? And if it IS a bad month, why launch the campaign now?

I'll confess I didn't watch the video (don't worry, I backed the project), but your last sentence above is interesting. Why is June a bad month? And if it IS a bad month, why launch the campaign now?

Apparently, according to Kickstarter statistics, June/July is the lowest performing month (people on vacation is my guess.) I already delayed the Kickstarter more than two months because of various unrelated reasons (travel and health mostly, plus Gary Con). I did not want to delay the project further because it would have jeopardized the chances of fulfilling rewards before Christmas.

EN World Reviews

Even though I’ve played and enjoyed just about every edition of Dungeons & Dragons, with an exception to 4th, I’ve pretty much stayed out of the fray in regards to D&D clones. I’ve somewhat maintained the semblance of a semi-regular D&D Basic campaign (live game) for about two years, primarily relying on the Rules Cyclopedia, and occasionally mixing (and experimenting) in elements from games like HackMaster as well as more recently, Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Like any role-playing alchemist, I’ll never stop mixing. And since Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition is a clone of Holmes Basic D&D, I’m eager to take a closer look.

This is the Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone…. Mayday. Mayday…. We are under attack…. Main drive is gone… Turret number one not responding…. Mayday…. Losing cabin pressure fast calling anyone…. Please help…. This is the Free Trader Beowulf…. Mayday…. Bold explorers and brave travellers journey between the stars in Traveller the science fiction roleplaying game by Mongoose Publishing.

I love zines. And, really, who doesn't? Zines are the ultimate expression of the DIY (do-it-yourself) aesthetic that has always been central to role-playing games. With crowd funding sites like Patreon, zines can become, while perhaps not profitable but at least self-sustaining. Kobold Press is using the site to bring out their print zine for Dungeons & Dragons 5E, Warlock. Let's take a look at the most recent couple of issues.

Welcome once more to our monthly roundup of offerings from the Statosphere, the community-generated content portal for the Unknown Armies RPG. This month, we're taking a look at a trio of titles to drop into—or even kick off—your campaigns.

The quest for a truly universal RPG system has been bubbling away for decades, and while Genesys won't be to everybody's taste it certainly carves out its own niche in the middle-ground between lighter systems and their monolithic, crunch-heavy cousins.